Philippines - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette.” Kwintessential. http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/philippines-country-profile.html (accessed on 6 November 2007) “Alternative Concepts and Other Values of the Filipinos.” Livinginthephilippines. http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/philculture/alternative.html (accessed 6 November 2007) Quito, Emerito S. “The Ambivalence of Filipino Traits and Values.” Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change. http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-7/chapter_v.htm (accessed 14 November 2007)

Gorospe, Vitaliano R., S.J. “Understanding the Filipino Value System.” http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-7/chapter_vi.htm (accessed 14 November 2007)

CHAPTER VI

UNDERSTANDING THE FILIPINOVALUE SYSTEM

VITALIANO R. GOROSPE, S.J.

Since the February 1986 Revolution(1), values development has been one major concern of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS). Undersecretary Minda Sutaria has publicized the second draft of the DECS Overall Values Framework, designed to assist teachers at all levels. This latest draft, basically similar to that proposed by Fr. Raul Bonoan, S.J. in "Paideia, Humanism, and Magpakatao: Values for National Reconstruction,"(2) bases its framework on the provisions of the Philippine Constitution of 1986.

If we are to discover our traditional values and make sure that they contribute to the "just and humane society" and "total human liberation and development" of which the Philippine Constitution speaks, we must ask some basic questions.

1) What is the philosophical basis of Filipino values?

2) What is distinctive about the Filipino value system?

VALUE PHILOSOPHY

A brief introduction to the philosophy of human values is necessary for an understanding of Filipino values and values education. A Filipino experiences family closeness and solidarity (pagpapahalaga sa pamilya), politeness (use of po or ho), hospitality (tuloy po kayo), gratitude (utang na loob) from "within", that is, subjectively and emotionally,

unlike a non-Filipino observer, social scientist, or psychologist who studies Filipino values objectively from "without" or "from a distance". Such Filipino values as social acceptance, (pakikisama, amor propio, economic security, pagmamay-ari), and trust in God (paniniwala sa Diyos, bathala or Maykapal) find their philosophical basis in man's dynamic openness toward nature and the world (e.g., the value of hanap-buhay ng magsasaka), one's fellowmen (the values of paggalang, hiya, katarungan, pag-ibig), and God (the values of pananampalataya, pananalangin, kabanalan).

This dynamic openness of man is an openness to the possibilities of the future. That is why values are something to be realized. Take the value of peace. The Philippine situation is now characterized by insurgency; conflict between the NPA, the MNLF and the AFP; vigilante groups; hostility and division--in short, an absence of national peace and order. Human values are not merely private. All values have a social aspect. The government official who demands porsiyento, the fireman or policeman who extorts tong or lagay for a service which is his duty, all contribute to the worsening graft and corruption. We are all responsible for one another (tayong lahat ay may pananagutan sa isa't-isa).

Values are both subjective and objective. They involve a subject or person who values (e.g., a young girl) and an object or value to be realized (e.g., pagkamahinhin). Justice is objective because it is a value that should be realized by all. It also becomes subjective if justice becomes a value for me. There is an objective difference between value and disvalue, pleasure and pain, life and death, poverty and affluence, heroism and cowardice, truth and error, right and wrong, holiness and sinfulness. The difference is not only in the mind or a matter of personal taste or preference. Even if I close my eyes to the ugly poverty around me, the poor will not disappear.

Values are not objective in the sense that they are found in some static heaven: they are relational and embodied in person-value-types (ideal moral persons). For example, to a tipong-mukhang kuarta [an avaricious look] profit is more important than service; to a tipong-politiko [political type], pera [money], propaganda, politika [politics] are more valuable than honesty; tipong siyentipiko [scientist type] or tipong-artista [actor type] personify agham [science] and sining [art]; tipong madasalin [pious type] may exemplify kabanalan (piety). Cory Aquino embodied all that we wanted our President to be--credible, honest, just, with a strong faith in God and in our people. The ideal type or Filipino model during the "parliament of  the streets" was the tipong-maka-Diyos (religions), makatao (people-oriented), makabayan (nationalistic).

The heroes of EDSA placed the good of the Filipino people before the safety and security of their families. They were willing to risk their lives for God and people. Value-ranking or the priority of values is not merely arbitrary or subjective. There is an objective ranking of values based on existence or reality and other objective criteria. Using the criteria of permanence, ability to be shared, and depth of satisfaction, Max Scheler ranked human values from the lowest to the highest as follows:(3) sense values like sensual pleasure are exemplified by the lakuatsero or pabling; utilitarian values like profit and efficiency by the businessman and technocrat; life values, by the doctor and the

hero, e.g., Dr. Bobby de la Paz and Emilio Jacinto; cultural values, by the genius and the artist, e.g., Jose Rizal and Francisco Balagtas; religious values, by the saint, e.g., Mother Teresa or Lorenzo Ruiz. Moral and religious values are pre-eminent and claim the highest priority in the objective scale of values because they are absolutely necessary in order to become fully human (magpakatao).

FILIPINO VALUES: NATURE, CONSTELLATION

AND CONTEXT

What are Filipino values? What is distinctly Filipino in our value system? The Filipino value system arises from our culture or way of life, our distinctive way of becoming human in this particular place and time. We speak of Filipino values in a fourfold sense.

First, although mankind shares universal human values, it is obvious that certain values take on for us a distinctively Filipino flavor. The Greek ideal of moderation or meden agan, the Roman in medio stat virtus, the Confucian and Buddhist "doctrine of the Middle", find their Filipino equivalent in hindi labis, hindi kulang, katamtaman lamang.

Secondly, when we speak of Filipino values, we do not mean that elements of these Filipino values are absent in the value systems of other peoples and cultures. All people eat, talk and sing, but they eat different foods, speak various languages and sing different songs. Thus, we easily recognize Filipino, American, Chinese, Japanese or any other foreign food, language or music. The difference lies in the way these elements are ranked, combined or emphasized so that they take on a distinctively Filipino slant or cast. For instance, in China, honesty and hard work may rank highest; Chinese and Japanese cultures give great value to politeness and beauty; American culture to promptness and efficiency; and Filipino culture to trust in God and family centeredness. In this sense of value-ranking and priority of values, we can speak of dominant Filipino values.

Thirdly, universal human values in a Filipino context (historical, cultural, socio-economic, political, moral and religious) take on a distinctive set of Filipino meanings and motivations. This is true not only of the aims and goals, beliefs, convictions, and social principles of the traditional value system of the lowland rural family(4) but also of what Fr. Horacio de la Costa, S.J. calls the Filipino "nationalistic" tradition (pagsasarili, pagkakaisa, pakikisama, pakikipagkapwa-tao, and pagkabayani.(5)

A Filipino value or disvalue does not exist alone, in isolation or in a vacuum. Filipino values like bahala na, utang na loob, hiya, pakikisama, pakiusap are clustered around core values like social acceptance, economic security, social mobility, and are always found in a definite context or set of circumstances. Both positive values and negative disvalues together form a characteristic constellation in school (aralan at dasalan [studying and praying], kuwentuhan at laruan [story telling and game], inggitan at

tsismisan [envying and gossiping]), which differs from the configuration found in government offices (pagkakaisa [unity] , pagkabayani [heroism], intriga [intrigue], palakasan [show of power], sipsipan [bribery], palusot), in business firms (palabra de honor [word of honor], delicadeza [finesse], "commission", "kickback", padulas [grease money], lagay [bribe]), or in the barrio barangays (paggalang [honoring], pagdadamayan [comforting], bayanihan [cooperation], bahala na [come what may], utang na loob [gratefulness], hiya[shame]/pakiusap[appear], palakasan [show of power]). To change a framework of values, it may be necessary to change the constellation and context of those negative values that hinder Filipino and Christian development.

Fourthly, we can speak of Filipino values in the sense that the historical consciousness of values has evolved among our people. The Filipino concept of justice has evolved from inequality to equality, and to human dignity; from the tribe, to the family, and to the nation(6). Filipino consciousness of these different values varies at different periods of our history. It is only in the last two decades that the Filipino people have become more conscious of overpopulation and family planning, environmental pollution (Kawasaki sintering plant) and wildlife conservation (Calauit Island), and the violation of human rights (Martial Law), active non-violence and People Power (1986 non-violent Revolution).

FILIPINO VALUES: AMBIVALENCE AND

SPLIT-LEVEL CHRISTIANITY

Are Filipino values good or bad? The truth is that Filipino values are ambivalent in the sense that they are a potential for good or evil, a help or hindrance to personal and national development, depending on how they are understood, practiced or lived. They can be used in a good or evil context, e.g., pakikisama sa kabuktutan or sa kaunlaran. Filipino values have both positive and negative aspects depending on the context in which they are found. In a social system or atmosphere of extreme insecurity, the positive qualities of the Filipino take on negative and ugly appearances. For example, utang na loob can lead to pakiusap, nepotism and "cronyism". Pagmamay-ari ng kapangyarihan (the possession of power) and their abuse could lead to class distinction or the "malakas-mahina system". Hiya can become pakitang tao or gaya-gaya; machismo (tunay na lalake) is partly responsible for the "querida system" and the doble kara morality.

To show the ambivalence of Filipino values, one example will suffice. Take the well known but ambivalent Filipino bahala na mentality. On the one hand, this Filipino attitude could be the root of the positive value of risk taking, entrepreneurship, and social responsibility. Prof. Jose de Mesa, in a pioneer book on the Filipino and Christian meaning of bahala na, stresses the positive meaning of this virtue of risk- taking, enterprise and joint trust in both human effort (bahala tayong lahat) and divine Providence (bahala ang Maykapal)(7). A people's will to take chances and risks, no matter what difficulties and problems the future entails, is necessary for a nation's growth and destiny. Bahala na could be a genuine faith and trust in Divine Providence that also

presupposes a self-reliance (pagsasarili) that took the form of People Power in the EDSA revolution. Bahala na was a positive and nationalistic virtue for Jose Rizal, who believed that Filipinos could no longer rely on the Spaniards, but only on themselves and on God.

On the other hand, in the past the negative aspect of bahala

na which dominated Filipino life meant a false sense of resignation (ganyan lang ang buhay), a superstitious belief or blind faith (malas/suwerte, tadhana, kapalaran), or escape from decision-making and social responsibility. As such it may be the root cause of national apathy (walang pakialam) and collective paralysis of action (bakit pa kikilos) to solve both local and national problems. Everything is already predetermined or fated. Negatively, bahala na could engender a false sense of security with God as insurance or a security blanket. For example, if God wants Filipino families to have plenty of children (anak ay kayamanan), God will take care of everything. Bahala na could be the cause of the absence of national initiative and of that discipline required for national growth. When negative bahala na prevails, nothing ever gets done. Potholed roads, uncollected garbage, countless unsolved murders, carnaping and smuggling remain year after year. How many have ever been arrested, convicted or jailed for wanton murder or for notorious graft and corruption? A sense of national frustration, helplessness, and despair grips the nation and the people no longer care. Nothing is going to happen--Bahala na, come what may.

From a Filipino perspective, what social reforms are necessary to transform bahala na positively? No society will long endure unless there is justice; that is, unless a system of reward and punishment exists and is effective. If in Philippine society lying and stealing people's money are rewarded and truthfulness and honesty are punished, what else can one expect but a badly broken political will for national reform? The present government should therefore prioritize an effective system of universal sanctions for those who hold power. From a Christian perspective, the Christian doctrines of divine Providence, creation, stewardship of land and property, and the conservation of our natural resources remain the challenge and task of parents, educators, and Christian evangelizers.

Split-level Christianity or double-standard morality, the immorality and hypocrisy of many so-called Filipino Christians, is a scandal to both Christians and non-Christians alike.(8) It is important to distinguish between pseudo Christianity in all its varied forms and authentic Christianity; between bad and good Christians. We must also take into account the ambiguity of any religious commitment, which is not something made once and for all, but a life-long process which demands constant conversion and renewal. We must also distinguish between Filipino actual and normative behaviour (between what is and what ought to be). Filipino values are not static, i.e., they are not simply what they are, but dynamic, i.e., they become. From a historical perspective, the question to ask about Filipino values is: Ganito kami noon: paano kayo ngayon? How are we to know towards what goal or direction Filipino values ought to move or become?

Now that we have regained our democratic form of government once again and have arrived at a privileged historical kairos, how do we transform Filipino values to build a

more "just and humane society" (Preamble, 1987 Constitution)? We need both external structural and internal cultural change. It is here that the Christian faith should, in the last analysis, point the way to the kind of values education needed for national reconstruction.

Ateneo de Manila University

Manila

CHAPTER V

THE AMBIVALENCE OF FILIPINO

TRAITS AND VALUES

EMERITA S. QUITO

Much has been said about so-called negative Filipino traits. They have been blamed for the weak character of the Filipino; they are the culprits, the scapegoat of our failures, or at least, the explanation for lagging behind more successful Asian neighbors.

I propose to take a second look at these so-called negatives in the Filipino psyche to determine whether there might be a positive aspect, a saving face, a silver lining behind the dark clouds. In attempting to see an ambivalence in our traits, I will use oriental yardsticks to measure success or failure for it would be unfair to use Western standards to evaluate our Filipino traits. For example, is a materially comfortable life with physiological ailments more successful than a materially deprived life without physical ailments? Is the image of Juan Tamad waiting for a guava to fall such a reprehensible, if not scandalous, picture? Is the similar image of Sir Isaac Newton, also resting under a tree, more refreshing?

It is very Filipino to stress our minus points, to find fault in our behavior, to compare us unfavorably with Westerners by using Western standards. It is common to hear such names as Bertong Bukol, or Ipeng Pilay or Huseng Ngongo. It seems that we take pleasure in underscoring our weaknesses, faults, defects, etc. Our standards are smallness, averageness, mediocrity; grandeur or grandness is not in the Filipino vocabulary. The West, in contrast, evokes: Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Der Führer, Il Duce, El Caudillo, Elizabeth Regina. We seem to enjoy being humble and meek, or what Friedrich Nietzsche called "the morality of slaves."

There is something strange in the very way we look upon success. A person is not supposed to exert effort at the expense of sanity. We ridicule a person who teaches himself how to think and label him Tasio, the philosopher. We warn persons not to learn

too much lest they be like Jose Rizal who was executed at the Luneta in 1896. Assertiveness is frowned upon because it smacks of pride and ruthlessness. Success to the Filipino, must come naturally; it should not be induced or artificially contrived. One should not be successful at an early age because that would mean exertion and hard work. Success must come very late in life, if it is to come at all.

Filipino traits must be understood in the above context. Hence, they are considered negative only according to other yardsticks.

The following Filipino traits show an ambivalence of positive and negative aspects.

Hiya (shame)

Negative, because it arrests or inhibits one's action. This trait reduces one to smallness or to what Nietzsche calls the "morality of slaves", thus congealing the soul of the Filipino and emasculating him, making him timid, meek and weak.

Positive, because, it contributes to peace of mind and lack of stress by not even trying to achieve.

Ningas-cogon (procrastination)

Negative, by all standards, because it begins ardently and dies down as soon as it begins. This trait renders one inactive and unable to initiate things or to persevere.

Positive, in a way, because it makes a person non-chalant, detached, indifferent, nonplussed should anything go wrong, and hence conducive to peace and tranquillity.

Pakikisama (group loyalty)

Negative, because one closes one's eyes to evils like graft and corruption in order to conserve peace and harmony in a group at the expense of one's comfort.

Positive, because one lives for others; peace or lack of dissension is a constant goal.

Patigasan (test of strength)

Negative, because it is stubborn and resists all efforts at reconciliation. The trait makes us childish, vindictive, irresponsible, irrational. Actions resulting from this trait are leaving the phone off the hook to get even with one's party line; stopping the engine of the car to prove that one has the right of way; standing one's ground until the opposite party loses its patience.

Positive, because it is assign that we know our rights and are not easily cowed into submission. It is occidental in spirit, hence in keeping with Nietzsche's "will to power."

Bahala na (resignation)

Negative, because one leaves everything to chance under the pretext of trusting in Divine providence. This trait is really laziness disguised in religious garb.

Positive, because one relies on a superior power rather than on one's own. It is conducive to humility, modesty, and lack of arrogance.

Kasi (because, i. e., scapegoat)

Negative, because one disowns responsibility and makes a scapegoat out of someone or something. One is never to blame; one remains lily white and has a ready alibi for failure.

Positive, because one can see both sides of the picture and know exactly where a project failed. One will never suffer from guilt or self-recrimination.

Saving Face

Negative, because, being closely related to hiya and kasi, it enables a person to shirk responsibility. One is never accountable for anything.

Positive, because one's psyche is saved from undue embarrassment, sleepless nights, remorse of conscience. It saves one from accountability or responsibility. This trait enables one to make a graceful exit from guilt instead of facing the music and owning responsibility for an offense.

Sakop (inclusion)

Negative, because one never learns to be on one's own but relies on one's family and relatives. This trait stunts growth and prevents a person from growing on one's own. Generating a life of parasitism, this trait is very non-existential. Blaring music, loud tones are a result of this mentality. We wrongly think that all people like the music we play or the stories we tell. This mentality also makes us consider the world as one vast comfort room.

Positive, because one cares for the family and clan; one stands or falls with them. This trait makes a person show concern for the family to which he belongs.

Mañana or "Bukas na" (procrastination)

Negative, because one constantly postpones action and accomplishes nothing. This aggravates a situation, a problem grows beyond correction, a leak or a small break

becomes a gaping hole. This arises from an indolent mentality that a problem will go away by itself.

Positive, because one is without stress and tension; one learns to take what comes naturally. Like the Chinese wu-wei, this trait makes one live naturally and without undue artificiality.

Utang na loob (indebtedness)

Negative, because one overlooks moral principles when one is indebted to a person. One who is beholden to another person will do anything to please him, thinking that by doing so he is able to repay a debt. One condones what the other person does and will never censure him for wrongdoing.

Positive, because it is a recognition of one's indebtedness. This trait portrays the spirit behind the Filipino saying, "He who does not know how to look to the past will never reach his destination."

Kanya-kanya (self-centeredness)

Negative, because self-centered; one has no regard for others. So long as my family and I are not in need, I do not care about he world. Positive, because one takes care of oneself and one's family: "Blood is thicker than water."

At the end of our exposé of the positive and negative aspects of the Filipino psyche, one asks the question: What after all, is its ideal of personality, activity and achievement?

Regarding personality, if the ideal is a personality without stress and tension, then Filipino traits contribute to this. The contention is that success necessarily means hypertension, ulcers and sleepless nights. Could there exist a state of success without these physical aberrations?

Regarding activity, if the idea is that one should engage in a whirlpool of activity or if the work ethic is workaholism, then the Filipino indeed is in very poor estate. But is this not more of the Occidental or Western concept of activity? In contrast, the Oriental emphasizes conformity with nature; hence, one should never exaggerate or overact.

Regarding achievement, if the ideal is that one must achieve an earthly goal, then the Filipino, as a race, will occupy a low rank. But again, is this ideal not more Occidental or Western, according to which one must always set a goal and accomplish it? Setting a goal is not wrong in any culture, but the manner of achieving it which can be questionable. Does one have to expend one's total energy in the pursuit of an ideal which, after all, is a personal, earthly goal?

If for the Filipino smallness, meekness, and humility are ideals, could it not be that he is not this-worldly? Could he not perhaps be aiming, consciously or otherwise, at the life in

the hereafter where the last will be the first, the weak will be strong, and the small will be great?

De La Salle University

Manila

SOURCE: ANOTHER WEBSITE: [http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-7/chapter_xvi.htm]

CHAPTER XVI

EDUCATION THROUGH THE ARTS:THE GIFT OF TONGUES

NICANOR G. TIONGSON

In most living rooms in the Philippines, a visitor is bound to find an altar on which are enthroned, not only the plaster images of Christ and the Virgin Mary, but very significantly the photographs, usually framed in gold, of the family's children, proudly showing off graduation caps, hoods, and togas. Education undoubtedly continues to be held in high regard among Filipinos today, despite the fact that only a few select can afford education beyond the primary and secondary levels.

As it is in every household, so is it in the larger society. Many Filipinos is still hope in an educational system that disgorges graduates by the hundreds of thousands every October and March. All this because there is a prevalent notion that the diploma alone is the key to economic uplift and social mobility.

But if the present state of the nation is viewed as partly the product of the country's educational system, Filipinos have no recourse but to reevaluate the present educational thrust. For while our numerous schools, colleges and universities have produced innumerable graduates, massive unemployment persists and worsens. The national economy still must recuperate, while the national psyche remains confused and debilitated, continuously drugged by colonial and escapist values and attitudes perpetuated by the mass media.

EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY

Clearly, this is not the education we want for our society. But what indeed should education be? What should our schools produce? What is a truly educated person?

The definition of education given by philosophers of education is as idealistic as it is unequivocal: the ultimate goal of education is the common good, and in democratic societies this is reflected in a society in which justice, equality and democratic practices prevail. In this view, education is expected to develop a citizenry of free men who are able to express their will, fight for their rights and be responsible for their actions. Moreover, it should nurture a citizenry of creative men able to respond to the needs of their society and to offer creative solutions to problems their society may face.

In other words, more than a citizenry of doers, the educational system must be able to produce thinkers and creative persons in order to preserve society and ensure progress. In this the importance of creativity cannot be underestimated, for men who are bound by conventional world-views and timeworn procedures are doomed to lead their society to a state of stagnation. It may be well to remind ourselves that the stunning discoveries in the history of civilization that brought progress and comfort to mankind--from the simple wheel to the complex flying machine--were made by men who explored and pushed their imagination beyond the limits of what was known, or even allowed, during their time.

Problems in Education

Can we say that our educational system encourages the development of such a citizenry? In a study published by the Center for Research and Communication,1 a panel of Philippine scholars2 presented an appraisal of the educational system in the Philippines today. It pinpoints several inadequacies in the areas of educational planning, structure, teaching and learning methodology, socio-economic aspects, educational financing and non-formal and informal education. This paper focuses on what I consider to be the most basic inadequacies of our educational system. The first is seeming misdirection of goal; the second, inadequate teaching and learning methodology; and third, undue bias for formal or schoolroom education.

First, to many Filipinos who want only more food on the table or clothes on their back, the primary goal of education has come to be training that will ensure employment after graduation. Hence, the proliferation of students in courses such as those in commerce, teaching, secretarial and vocational subjects that not only have the lowest tuition fees, but also are expected to enable one to land a job easily. In non-formal education dressmaking, hair science or beauty culture seem to be the favorites. In this concept of education, education itself becomes optional if a person already has a job. "Tutal kumikita na naman, bakit kailangan pang mag-aral."

Ironically, society can only absorb a limited number of these  graduates, so that in the end many find themselves among the increasing number of the "educated unemployed." More importantly, this pragmatic and short-sighted view misses the broader point of education--the development of the person, the maximization of his or her potential and capacity as a thinking and creative individual able to harness and shape his environment, and not the other way around.

The second point concerns the teaching and learning methodology prevalent in our school systems, which is best illustrated by the physical layout of a typical Filipino classroom: rows upon rows of students looking up at a teacher who stands on a platform, framed by blackboards crammed with information which students must copy word for word. This teaching and learning method is what Paolo Freire in his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, refers to as the "banking" method. Here, the teacher is the supreme authority who dishes out "facts" and data, which the students accept as gospel truth, and return to their teacher undigested, in exams and classroom recitations.

Needless to say, this system can only develop data-oriented automatons predisposed to rote-memorization rather than to critical thinking, parrots who are as docile as they are passive and complacent. Small wonder that many Filipinos continue to accept the stereotypes of man as provider and woman as homemaker, and never question the rule of the traditional elite. Small wonder, too, that we fall easy prey to advertising messages that facilitate continued domination of our economy by foreign powers.

Thirdly and finally, there is an undue bias for formal or classroom education, a system tending to favor only those who can afford it. Because the poor cannot afford the tuition fees demanded by a sustained program requiring more and more cash outlay as one rises to higher levels, the gap between the educated and the non- or less educated continues to widen with serious socio-economic repercussions, such as the monopoly of vital information by those who are articulate in English; the cornering of economic opportunities by those armed with diplomas; and the manipulation of the illiterate by the "enlightened" who hold the reins of political power. The end result of all this is not only the turtle-pace of national progress and development, but a democracy without substance, a virtual aristocracy of the educated few.

But how can education respond to the needs of our society? How can it serve the imperatives of national progress and development? Clearly, these questions cannot be answered satisfactorily in one paper. But I would like to concentrate on the following options:

1) the development of the creative mind and imagination among the citizens, and

2) the use of the arts in this task.

THE CREATIVE MIND AND IMAGINATION

The first important component of the creative mind is a critical attitude that is perpetually inquisitive and questioning. It is not satisfied with what is, but examines the whys and wherefores of concepts and phenomena. It does not accept anything as absolute, but rather brings all "truths" to the table of discussion and debate. It defies authority; it destroys idols. It is an iconoclast, but not an anarchist or a nihilist, for even as it destroys maxims of the past and shibboleths of the present, the critical mind conjures up the dreams and ideals of a life better than that which exists. It slashes through limits  and conventions in its pursuit of the grail that is the greater good.

But the creative mind is not only critical. It is also imaginative, building paths in unchartered territories that burst through the frontiers of the here and now. It is a mind that discovers, invents and creates the tools, equipment, and vessels which seek to transport mankind to the reality of a better life. In short, it is the creative imagination which dynamizes mankind towards progress.

To this day, men with creative minds and imaginations remain a rare breed in our country, and not without reason. More than 400 years of colonization under Spain and America, and 20 years of devastating dictatorship have created a tremendous negative impact on our national psyche. Our relationships--whether political, economic, social or personal--are still largely authoritarian, our tastes disappointingly colonial, our attitudes are at best accommodating, at worst subservient. Indeed, ours is a culture of silence, a culture of a people without tongues.

Clearly, if we are to survive as a nation, economic and political rehabilitation have to go hand in hand with social and personal remolding. For blind acceptance of what is, as well as passivity and apathy, are the best allies of the foreign and local forces that subvert the interest of the greater majority of our people. For national survival, therefore, it is imperative that we break the culture of silence, and begin to develop a people who will not be afraid to express those ideas. For this we have to make our people--whether they are in the cities or hinterlands--aware of themselves as individuals, and as persons with much potential within themselves. Hopefully, once our people have become aware of their selves, they will seek naturally to express these newly-discovered selves. Self-awareness then is the sputum that will loosen tongues that have been tied and hardened by the traumas of our history.

The Role of the Arts

But how is this to be done? In this endeavor, the arts and their disciplines and principles, play a pivotal role. For it is the arts that can present our people with alternative and myriad ways of self-expression, nothing less than the gift of tongues.

To illustrate, let us cite the experience of one theater group which has evolved an effective way of releasing personal creativity. The Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) has been conducting Basic Integrated Theater Arts Workshops (BITAW) since 1973. The workshop starts with improvisational games meant to release a person's spontaneity and eliminate his inhibitions. These release games and exercises are meant to prepare the individual to "experience". In this context, "experiencing", as Viola Spolin, an exponent of improvisational theater, explains, is penetration of the environment and total organic involvement with it. This means involvement on three levels: intellectual, physical and intuitive. Of the three, the intuitive, which is most vital to the learning situation, now is often neglected. When response to experience takes place at this intuitive level, i.e., when a person functions beyond a constricted intellectual plane, he is totally open for learning, for the intuitive can only respond in immediacy--to the here and now. It comes bearing gifts in the moment of spontaneity when we are freed to involve ourselves in the moving-changing world around us.

In the integrated arts workshops, confrontation with the environment is further encouraged because the principles and elements of design are taught through games and examples of objects found in the environment, such as the lines and rhythm found in sea waves, the shape and color of leaves and fruits, the texture of sand and rocks. With stones, tin cans and wooden sticks, sounds and rhythms are created to express emotions and sentiments. Simple poems are composed describing the impact of an element in one's environment--like that of the scorching heat of the sun as one performs his daily chores, or of the cool water as one bathes in the river, or of the landlord who evokes awe as well as fear in his tenant farmer.

In creative dramatics, involvement with other persons is through "exposure" and research. A participant observes an interesting character in his community, learns something about the person, penetrates his/her mind and heart, examines the person's relationship with the other members of the community, and finally dramatizes the person's conflict or agreement with them. In this process, the participants come to investigate and discuss issues and problems in their community and, through the guidance of the workshop facilitator, perhaps to suggest solutions to some of these problems and issues. The process in effect draws out one's awareness of the self, his environment and his community.

The same techniques of employing the arts to foster better learning may be employed in the classroom. History, for example, does not have to be a boring recitation of who killed Magellan, when Rizal was born, whose was the first uprising against Spain, who was the president of the Philippine Commonwealth, how did Magsaysay die? Instead, the teachers can encourage their students to put up exhibits of objects and pictures of the Spanish Period, or to dramatize the Trial of Rizal or of Bonifacio. In the case of a play, discussion of the issues raised may be encouraged with the use of Boal's technique of Forum Theater, so that students may comment on the play and even restructure it according to what they believe should have happened. Similarly, arithmetic does not have to be abstract and traumatic. A recent play for children explains addition, subtraction and multiplication through children brightly costumed as animals singing and dancing the principles of arithmetic. Given the fact that students today are bombarded with visual excitement in television and film, a pedagogy that employs the arts, especially for its audio-visual impact and kinetic-participative aspect, is not only desirable but imperative.

But what is the point in employing games, creative exercises, and  the integrated disciplines of the arts in education? Clearly, these processes all provide opportunities for experiencing, and hence for learning. From personal or group or community experiences, insights and concepts are drawn out and clarified. In such learning processes, general principles or truths are never intoned ex cathedra or handed down by the teacher to the students. Rather they are deduced from what the learners experience, doing justice to the original meaning of education, i.e., ex ducere, to draw out. In this process, the "teacher" is more appropriately a "facilitator" who helps the learner draw concepts out of his experiences. The facilitator's only advantage over his students, perhaps, is the fact that he/she is more experienced and therefore richer in insights. Even then he/she does not assume the stance of an authority figure, but is one of the learners, for each new game,

each new process is a new experience, and each new experience a source of new or additional knowledge for a true teacher.

Such workshops are always conducted in an informal, relaxed atmosphere, the better to encourage spontaneity. The participants, at the time when experiences and insights are synthesized, are seated on the floor in a circle. Each one is on equal footing with the rest, including their facilitator, in sharing and assessing insights.

A Nation of Creators

In conclusion, the objective of education through the arts is to develop not a country of professional artists, but rather a nation of creators--citizens who maximize the use of their creative imagination. Such a nation of persons will reject any form of fascistic control or authoritarian repression. A people with creative imagination will refuse to be herded like sheep: they will always speak their minds and stand up for the truth as they perceive it. They will never impose their own minds and wills on their fellowmen, for their inherent attitude of openness makes them respect the right of others to express their own truths.

Furthermore, a nation whose people are creators is a nation that could never stagnate or remain complacent with things as they are. It is a nation that will continue to question systems that have begun to harden and institutions that have begun to fossilize. It is a nation that will dare to question the validity of "modern medicine" and experiment with "unscientific" herbal healing. It will not be afraid to debunk such established concepts as the superiority of American-type democracy and free enterprise economy in favor of political and economic systems that protect the interests of Third World countries. It will produce Galileos, da Vincis and Einsteins who always will be unhappy with the way things are because they are obsessed by the dream of a better world for all men.

I close with a favorite anecdote which clearly shows how a people's creativity--in this case the Nicaraguans'--proved to be a successful antidote to foreign repression. When the U.S.A. suspended Nicaragua's credit to buy wheat, to pressure them into acceding to American demands which the Nicaraguans considered inimical to their interest, cultural workers promptly organized a corn festival on a national scale with an overwhelming response from their people. The Nicaraguans showed the strength and vast richness of their culture by inventing a bewildering variety of dishes, bread, pastries and drinks all made from corn. In this way they not only showed their culinary abilities, but ensured the legacy of their culture--a culture of resistance. It is said that the Nicaraguan Revolution was a revolution of poets. There can be no doubt about it, just as there can be no doubt that creativity is indeed the cornerstone of democracy and progress.

Cultural Center of the Philippines

Manila

NOTES

1. "The Educational System" in The Philippines at the Crossroads: Some Visions for the Nation (Manila: Center for Research and Communication, 1986), pp. 218-385.

2. Florangel Rosario Braid, Dieter Appelt, Jaime Valera, Ramon R. Tuazon and Evangeline Albert.

[http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-7/chapter_iv.htm]

CHAPTER IV

 

A MORAL RECOVERY PROGRAM:BUILDING A PEOPLE--BUILDING A NATION

PATRICIA LICUANAN

The events at EDSA in February 1986 not only ousted a dictator, but also demonstrated to the world and to ourselves our great strengths as a people. At EDSA we saw courage, determination and strength of purpose; we saw unity and concern for one another; we saw deep faith in God; and even in the grimmest moments, there was some laughter and humor.

We were proud of ourselves at EDSA and we expected great changes after our moment of glory. Today, sometime after, we realize that most of our problems as a nation still remain. We may have ousted a dictator, but that was the easy part. The task of building a nation is so much more difficult. Now, with EDSA only an inspiring memory, we are faced with our weaknesses. Self-interest and disregard for the common good rears its ugly head. We are confronted with our lack of discipline and rigor, our colonial mentality, and our emphasis on porma (form). Despite our great display of people's power, now we are passive once more, expecting our leaders to take all responsibility for solving our many problems.

The task of building our nation is an awesome one. There is need for economic recovery. There is need to re-establish democratic institutions and to achieve the goals of peace and genuine social justice. Along with these goals, there is a need as well to build ourselves as a people. There is need to change structures and to change people.

Building a people means eliminating our weaknesses and developing our strengths; this starts with the analysis, understanding, and appreciation of these strengths and weaknesses. We must take a good look at ourselves--objectively with scientific detachment, but also emotionally (i.e., lovingly) and, when appropriate, with disgust. We must view ourselves as might a lover viewing a loved one but also as might a judge

capable of a harsh verdict. We must not be self-flagellating, but neither can we afford to be defensive.

We must change, and for this understanding ourselves is the first step.

STRENGTHS OF THE FILIPINO CHARACTER

Pakikipagkapwa-Tao (regard for others). Filipinos are open to others and feel one with others. We regard others with dignity and respect, and deal with them as fellow human beings. Pakikipagkapwa-tao is manifested in a basic sense of justice and fairness, and in concern for others. It is demonstrated in the Filipino's ability to empathize with others, in helpfulness and generosity in times of need (pakikiramay), in the practice of bayanihan or mutual assistance, and in the famous Filipino hospitality.

Filipinos possess a sensitivity to people's feelings or pakikiramdam, pagtitiwala or trust, and a sense of gratitude or utang-na-loob. Because of pakikipagkapwa-tao, Filipinos are very sensitive to the quality of interpersonal relationships and are very dependent on them: if our relationships are satisfactory, we are happy and secure.

Pakikipagkapwa-tao results in camaraderie and a feeling of closeness one to another. It helps promote unity as well a sense of social justice.

Family Orientation. Filipinos possess a genuine and deep love for the family, which includes not simply the spouses and children, parents, and siblings, but also grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, godparents, and other ceremonial relatives. To the Filipino, one's family is the source of personal identity, the source of emotional and material support, and the person's main commitment and responsibility.

Concern for family is manifested in the honor and respect given to parents and elders, in the care given to children, the generosity towards kin in need, and in the great sacrifices one endures for the welfare of the family. This sense of family results in a feeling of belonging or rootedness and in a basic sense of security.

Joy and Humor. Filipinos have a cheerful and fun-loving approach to life and its ups and downs. There is a pleasant disposition, a sense of humor, and a propensity for happiness that contribute not only to the Filipino charm, but to the indomitability of the filipino spirit. Laughing at ourselves and our trouble is an important coping mechanism. Often playful, sometimes cynical, sometimes disrespectful, we laugh at those we love and at those we hate, and make jokes about our fortune, good and bad.

This sense of joy and humor is manifested in the Filipino love for socials and celebrations, in our capacity to laugh even in the most trying of times, and in the appeal of political satire.

The result is a certain emotional balance and optimism, a healthy disrespect for power and office, and a capacity to survive.

Flexibility, Adaptability and Creativity. Filipinos have a great capacity to adjust, and to adapt to circumstances and to the surrounding environment, both physical and social. Unplanned or unanticipated events are never overly disturbing or disorienting as the flexible Filipino adjusts to whatever happens. We possess a tolerance for ambiguity that enables us to remain unfazed by uncertainty or lack of information. We are creative, resourceful, adept at learning, and able to improvise and make use of whatever is at hand in order to create and produce.

This quality of the Filipino is manifested in the ability to adapt to life in any part of the world; in the ability to make new things out of scrap and to keep old machines running; and, of course, in the creative talent manifested in the cultural sphere. It is seen likewise in the ability to accept change.

The result is productivity, innovation, entrepreneurship, equanimity, and survival.

Hard work and Industry. Filipinos have the capacity for hard work, given proper conditions. The desire to raise one's standard of living and to possess the essentials of a decent life for one's family, combined with the right opportunities and incentives, stimulate the Filipino to work very hard. This is manifested most noticeably in a willingness to take risks with jobs abroad, and to work there at two or three jobs. The result is productivity and entrepreneurship for some, and survival despite poverty for others.

Faith and Religiosity. Filipinos have a deep faith in God. Innate religiosity enables us to comprehend and genuinely accept reality in the context of God's will and plan. Thus, tragedy and bad fortune are accepted and some optimism characterizes even the poorest lives.

Filipinos live very intimately with religion; this is tangible--a part of everyday life. We ascribe human traits to a supernatural God whom we alternately threaten and thank, call upon for mercy or forgiveness, and appease by pledges. Prayer is an important part of our lives.

The faith of the Filipino is related to bahala na, which, instead of being viewed as defeatist resignation, may be considered positively as a reservoir of psychic energy, an important psychological support on which we can lean during difficult times. This pampalakas ng loob allows us to act despite uncertainty.

Our faith and daring was manifest at EDSA and at other times in our history when it was difficult to be brave. It is seen also in the capacity to accept failure and defeat without our self-concept being devastated since we recognize forces external to ourselves as contributing to the unfolding of events in our lives.

The results of the Filipino's faith are courage, daring, optimism, inner peace, as well as the capacity to genuinely accept tragedy and death.

Ability to Survive. Filipinos have an ability to survive which is manifested in our capacity for endurance despite difficult times, and in our ability to get by on so little. Filipinos make do with what is available in the environment, even, e.g., by eking out a living from a garbage dump. This survival instinct is related to the Filipinos who bravely carry on through the harshest economic and social circumstances. Regretfully, one wonders what we might be able to do under better circumstances.

WEAKNESSES OF THE FILIPINO CHARACTER

Extreme Personalism. Filipinos view the world in terms of personal relationships and the extent to which one is able personally to relate to things and people determines our recognition of their existence and the value. There is no separation between an objective task and emotional involvement. This personalism is manifested in the tendency to give personal interpretations to actions, i.e., to "take things personally." Thus, a sincere question may be viewed as a challenge to one's competence or positive feedback may be interpreted as a sign of special affection. There is, in fact, some basis for such interpretations as Filipinos become personal in their criticism and praise. Personalism is also manifested in the need to establish personal relationships before any business or work relationship can be successful.

Because of this personalistic world view, Filipinos have difficulty dealing with all forms of impersonal stimuli. For this reason one is uncomfortable with bureaucracy, with rules and regulations, and with standard procedures--all of which tend to be impersonal. We ignore them or we ask for exceptions.

Personal contacts are involved in any transaction and are difficult to turn down. Preference is usually given to family and friends in hiring, delivery of services, and even in voting. Extreme personalism thus leads to the graft and corruption evident in Philippine society.

Extreme Family-Centeredness. While concern for the family is one of the Filipino's greatest strengths, in the extreme it becomes a serious flaw. Excessive concern for the family creates an in-group to which the Filipino is fiercely loyal, to the detriment of concern for the larger community or the common good.

Excessive concern for family manifests itself in the use of one's office and power as a means of promoting the interests of the family, in factionalism, patronage, and political dynasties, and in the protection of erring family members. It results in lack of concern for the common good and acts as a block to national consciousness.

Lack of Discipline. The Filipino's lack of discipline encompasses several related characteristics. We have a casual and relaxed attitude towards time and space which manifests itself in lack of precision and compulsiveness, in poor time management and in procrastination. We have an aversion to following strictly a set of procedures, which results in lack of standardization and quality control. We are impatient and unable to delay gratification or reward, resulting in the use of short cuts, skirting the rules (the

palusot syndrome) and in foolhardiness. We are guilty of ningas cogon, starting out projects with full vigor and interest which abruptly die down, leaving things unfinished.

Our lack of discipline often results in inefficient and wasteful work systems, the violation of rules leading to more serious transgressions, and a casual work ethic leading to carelessness and lack of follow-through.

Passivity and Lack of Initiative. Filipinos are generally passive and lacking in initiative. One waits to be told what has to be done. There is a strong reliance on others, e.g., leaders and government, to do things for us. This is related to the attitude towards authority. Filipinos have a need for a strong authority figure and feel safer and more secure in the presence of such an authority. One is generally submissive to those in authority, and is not likely to raise issues or to question decisions.

Filipinos tend to be complacent and there rarely is a sense of urgency about any problem. There is a high tolerance for inefficiency, poor service, and even violations of one's basic rights. In many ways, it can be said that the Filipino is too patient and long-suffering (matiisin), too easily resigned to one's fate. Filipinos are thus easily oppressed and exploited.

Colonial Mentality. Filipinos have a colonial mentality which is made up of two dimensions: the first is a lack of patriotism or an active awareness, appreciation, and love of the Philippines; the second is an actual preference for things foreign.

Filipino culture is characterized by an openness to the outside--adapting and incorporating the foreign elements into our image of ourselves. Yet this image is not built around a deep core of Philippine history and language. The result is a cultural vagueness or weakness that makes Filipinos extraordinarily susceptible to the wholesome acceptance of modern mass culture which is often Western. Thus, there is preference for foreign fashion, entertainment, lifestyles, technology, consumer items, etc.

The Filipino colonial mentality is manifested in the alienation of the elite from their roots and from the masses, as well as in the basic feeling of national inferiority that makes it difficult for Filipinos to relate as equals to Westerners.

Kanya-Kanya Syndrome. Filipinos have a selfish, self-serving attitude that generates a feeling of envy and competitiveness towards others, particularly one's peers, who seem to have gained some status or prestige. Towards them, the Filipino demonstrated the so-called "crab mentality", using the levelling instruments of tsismis, intriga and unconstructive criticism to bring others down. There seems to be a basic assumption that another's gain is our loss.

The kanya-kanya syndrome is also evident in personal ambition and drive for power and status that is completely insensitive to the common good. Personal and in-group interests reign supreme. This characteristic is also evident in the lack of a sense of service among

people in the government bureaucracy. The public is made to feel that service from these offices and from these civil servants is an extra perk that has to be paid for.

The kanya-kanya syndrome results in the dampening of cooperative and community spirit and in the denial of the rights of others.

Lack of Self-Analysis and Self-Reflection. There is a tendency in the Filipino to be superficial and even somewhat flighty. In the face of serious problems both personal and social, there is lack of analysis or reflection. Joking about the most serious matters prevents us from looking deeply into the problem. There is no felt need to validate our hypotheses or explanations of things. Thus we are satisfied with superficial explanations for, and superficial solutions to, problems.

Related to this is the Filipino emphasis on form (maporma) rather than upon substance. There is a tendency to be satisfied with rhetoric and to substitute this for reality. Empty rhetoric and endless words are very much part of public life. As long as the right things are said, as long as the proper documents and reports exist, and as long as the proper committees, task forces, or offices are formed, Filipinos are deluded into believing that what ought to be actually exists.

The Filipino lack of self-analysis and our emphasis upon form is reinforced by an educational system that is often more form than substance and a legal system that tends to substitute law for reality.

THE MANY FACES OF THE FILIPINO

From this discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the Filipino, it is clear that there is much that is good here, but there is also much that needs to be changed. Many of our strong points are also the sources of our weakness.

As a people, we are person-oriented, and relationships with others are a very important part of our lives. Thus, we are capable of much caring and concern for others. On the other hand, in the extreme our person orientation leads to lack of objectivity and a disregard for universal rules and procedures so that everyone, regardless of our relationship with them, is treated equally. Our person orientation leads us to be concerned for people, and yet unfair to some.

Our family orientation is both a strength and a weakness, giving us a sense of rootedness and security, both very essential to any form of reaching out to others. At the same time, it develops in us an in-group orientation that prevents us from reaching out beyond the family to the larger community and the nation.

Our flexibility, adaptability and creativity is a strength that allows us to adjust to any set of circumstances and to make the best of the situation. But this ability to "play things by ear" leads us to compromise on the precision and discipline necessary to accomplish many work-oriented goals.

Our sense of joy and humor serves us well in difficult times. it makes life more pleasant, but serious problems do need serious analysis, and humor can also be destructive.

Our faith in God and our religiosity are sources of strength and courage, but they also lead to an external orientation that keeps us passive and dependent on forces outside ourselves.

There are other contradictions in the many faces of the Filipino. We find pakikipagkapwa-tao and the kanya-kanya mentality living comfortably together in us. We are other-oriented and capable of great empathy; and yet we are self-serving, envious of others, and unconstructively critical of one another.

We also find the Filipino described alternately as hardworking and lazy. Indeed we see that we are capable of working long and hard at any job. However, our casual work ethic as well as our basic passivity in the work setting also is apparent as we wait for orders and instructions rather than taking the initiative.

ROOTS OF THE FILIPINO CHARACTER

The strengths and weaknesses of the Filipino have their roots in many factors such as: (1) the home environment, (2) the social environment, (3) culture and language, (4) history, (5) the educational system, (6) religion, (7) the economic environment, (8) the political environment, (9) mass media, and (10) leadership and role models.

The Family and Home Environment. Childbearing practices, family relations, and family attitudes and orientation are the main components of the home environment. Childbearing in the Filipino family is characterized by high nurturance, low independence training, and low discipline. The Filipino child grows up in an atmosphere of affection and over protection, where one learns security and trust, on the one hand, and dependence, on the other. In the indulgent atmosphere of the Filipino home, rigid standards of behavior or performance are not imposed, leading to a lack of discipline. Attempts to maintain discipline come in the form of many "no's" and "don'ts" and a system of criticism to keep children in line. Subtle comparisons among siblings also are used by mothers to control their children. These may contribute to the "crab mentality."

In a large family where we are encouraged to get along with our siblings and other relatives, we learn pakikipagkapwa-tao. In an authoritarian setting we learn respect for age and authority; at the same time we become passive and dependent on authority.

In the family, children are taught to value family and to give it primary importance.

The Social Environment. The main components of the social environment are social structures and social systems such as interpersonal religious and community interaction. The social environment of the Filipino is characterized by a feudal structure with great gaps between the rich minority and the poor majority. These gaps are not merely

economic but cultural as well, with the elite being highly westernized and alienated from the masses. This feudal structure develops dependence and passivity.

The Filipino is raised in an environment where one must depend on relationships with others in order to survive. In a poor country where resources are scarce and where the systems meant to respond to people's needs can be insensitive, inefficient, or non-existent, the Filipino becomes very dependent on kinship and interpersonal relationships.

Sensitivity about hurting established relationships controls our behavior. We are restrained from making criticisms no matter how constructive, so standards of quality are not imposed. We have difficulty saying no to requests and are pressured to favor our family and friends. That trying to get ahead of others is not considered acceptable exerts a strong brake upon efforts to improve our individual performance. The struggle for survival and our dependence on relationships make us in-group oriented.

Culture and Language. Much has been written about Filipino cultural values. Such characteristics such as warmth and person orientation, devotion to family, and sense of joy and humor are part of our culture and are reinforced by all socializing forces such as the family, school, and peer group.

Filipino culture rewards such traits and corresponding behavioral patterns develop because they make one more likable and enable life to proceed more easily.

Aside from emphasizing interpersonal values, Filipino culture is also characterized by an openness to the outside which easily incorporates foreign elements without a basic consciousness of our cultural core. This is related to our colonial mentality and to the use of English as the medium of instruction in schools.

The introduction of English as the medium of education de-Filipinized the youth and taught them to regard American culture as superior. The use of English contributes also to a lack of self-confidence on the part of the Filipino. The fact that doing well means using a foreign language, which foreigners inevitably can handle better, leads to an inferiority complex. At a very early age, we find that our self-esteem depends on the mastery of something foreign.

The use of a foreign language may also explain the Filipino's unreflectiveness and mental laziness. Thinking in our native language, but expressing ourselves in English, results not only in a lack of confidence, but also in a lack in our power of expression, imprecision, and a stunted development of one's intellectual powers.

History. We are the product of our colonial history, which is regarded by many as the culprit behind our lack of nationalism and our colonial mentality. Colonialism developed a mind-set in the Filipino which encouraged us to think of the colonial power as superior and more powerful. As a second-class citizen beneath the Spanish and then the Americans, we developed a dependence on foreign powers that makes us believe we are not responsible for our country's fate.

The American influence is more ingrained in the Philippines because the Americans set up a public school system where we learned English and the American way of life. Present-day media reinforce these colonial influences, and the Filipino elite sets the example by their western ways.

Another vestige of our colonial past is our basic attitude towards the government, which we have learned to identify as foreign and apart from us. Thus, we do not identify with government and are distrustful and uncooperative towards it. Much time and energy is spent trying to outsmart the government, which we have learned from our colonial past to regard as an enemy.

The Educational System. Aside from the problems inherent in the use of a foreign language in our educational system, the educational system leads to other problems for us as a people. The lack of suitable local textbooks and dependence on foreign textbooks, particularly in the higher school levels, force Filipino students as well as their teachers to use school materials that are irrelevant to the Philippine setting. From this comes a mind-set that things learned in school are not related to real life.

Aside from the influences of the formal curriculum, there are the influences of the "hidden curriculum" i.e., the values taught informally by the Philippine school system. Schools are highly authoritarian, with the teacher as the central focus. The Filipino student is taught to be dependent on the teacher as we attempt to record verbatim what the teacher says and to give this back during examinations in its original form and with little processing. Teachers reward well-behaved and obedient students and are uncomfortable with those who ask questions and express a different viewpoint. The Filipino student learns passivity and conformity. Critical thinking is not learned in the school.

Religion. Religion is the root of Filipino optimism and its capacity to accept life's hardships. However, religion also instills in the Filipino attitudes of resignation and a pre-occupation with the afterlife. We become vulnerable also to being victimized by opportunism, oppression, exploitation, and superstition.

The Economic Environment. Many Filipino traits are rooted in the poverty and hard life that is the lot of most Filipinos. Our difficulties drive us to take risks, impel us to work very hard, and develop in us the ability to survive. Poverty, however, has also become an excuse for graft and corruption, particularly among the lower rungs of the bureaucracy. Unless things get too difficult, passivity sets in.

The Political Environment. The Philippine political environment is characterized by a centralization of power. Political power and authority is concentrated in the hands of the elite and the participation of most Filipinos often is limited to voting in elections.

Similarly, basic services from the government are concentrated in Manila and its outlying towns and provinces. A great majority of Filipinos are not reached by such basic services

as water, electricity, roads, and health services. Government structures and systems--e.g., justice and education--are often ineffective or inefficient.

Since the government often is not there to offer basic services, we depend on our family, kin, and neighbors for our everyday needs. The absence of government enhances our extreme family-and even community-centeredness. We find it difficult to identify with a nation-family, since the government is not there to symbolize or represent the state.

The fact that political power is still very much concentrated in the hands of a few may lead to passivity. The inefficiency of government structures and systems also leads to a lack of integrity and accountability in our public servants.

Mass Media. Mass media reinforces our colonial mentality. Advertisements using Caucasian models and emphasizing a product's similarity with imported brands are part of our daily lives.

The tendency of media to produce escapist movies, soap operas, comics, etc., feed th Filipino's passivity. Rather than confront our poverty and oppression, we fantasize instead. The propensity to use flashy sets, designer clothes, superstars, and other bongga features reinforce porma.

Leadership and Role Models. Filipinos look up to their leaders as role models. Political leaders are the main models, but all other leaders serve as role models as well. Thus, when our leaders violate the law or show themselves to be self-serving and driven by personal interest--when there is lack of public accountability--there is a negative impact on the Filipino.

GOALS AND STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE

Goals. Based on the strengths and weaknesses of the Filipino, the following goals for change are proposed. The Filipino should develop:

1. a sense of patriotism and national pride--a genuine love, appreciation, and commitment to the Philippines and things Filipino;

2. a sense of the common good--the ability to look beyond selfish interests, a sense of justice and a sense of outrage at its violation;

3. a sense of integrity and accountability--an aversion toward graft and corruption in society and an avoidance of the practice in one's daily life;

4. the value and habits of discipline and hard work; and

5. the value and habits of self-reflection and analysis, the internalization of spiritual values, and an emphasis upon essence rather than on form.

General Stategic Principles. In identifying goals for change and developing our capabilities for their achievement, it is necessary to consider certain general principles:

1. Strategies must be multi-layered and multi-sectoral;

2. Strategies must emphasize change in the power-holders as well as in the masa (people);

3. Strategies should be holistic, emphasizing individual as well as systemic or structural change;

4. The change should involve a critical mass of people;

5. The goals should be divided into small pieces for implementation;

6. Strategies must be connected to the daily life of people; and

7. Strategies must be implemented by an act of the will and involve self-sacrifice.

Multi-Layered, Multi-Sectoral Strategies. A program of change must adopt strategies that are multi-layered and multi-sectoral. These layers and sectors could consist of the following: (1) the government; (2) non-governmental organizations; (3) people or the masa; (4) the family;

(5) educational institutions; (6) religious institutions; and (7) media. Some strategies should target all sectors of society, while other strategies should focus on particular sectors.

Roles of Power-Holders and the Masa. To ensure that meaningful change will take place, proposed strategies must emphasize change among power-holders or decision-makers as much as among the masa. These power-holders and decision-makers hold the key to structures and systems which in most cases need to be set up first before change can take place. Unless the people on top change, it will be difficult to expect real change. On the other hand, as the masa constitute the greater majority of Philippine society, any program for change will have to target this critical mass. Their active participation and support are indispensable components of our strategies.

Holistic, Individual and Systemic/Structural Change. Our approach to change should be holistic in that our strategies should facilitate individual as well as systemic or structural change. Individual conversion or renewal, as manifested in changed values, attitudes, habits and behavior, is a prerequisite to social change. However, individual conversion or renewal needs to be complemented and reinforced by a corresponding systemic or structural transformation. Otherwise, the effect of solely individual renewal would be shallow and limited, especially since many systems and structures in Philippine society themselves are the stumbling blocks to individual renewal.

Critical Mass or Network of Change Initiators. The initiators of change should not be a few individuals, but a critical mass or network of people highly committed to the goals of change. Aside from initiating change, the role of the critical mass or network of people is to follow through with persistence on the implementation of these strategies. This prevents ningas cogon from setting in.

Restricted or "Bite-Size" Goals. Strategies for change must be worked on one goal at a time, with everyone's effort concentrated on the goal chosen for that designated time period. The goals must be cut up into bite-size, realistic pieces, for easier management.

Goals Related to People's Lives. Change strategies must be connected to our daily lives, particularly to our economic activities, businesses, professions, occupations and jobs. Value change must likewise address matters close to our hearts, that is, activities and affairs of our families and communities from which change must start.

Act of the Will and Self-Sacrifice. The implementation of these strategies must be an act of the will. If we want change, kailangang kayanin natin. We must be ready for tremendous sacrifice--starting with ourselves.

SPECIFIC STRATEGIES

A. For Developing Patriotism, and National Pride:

1. Ideology. We need a national ideology that can summon all our resources for the task of lifting national morale, pride and productivity.

2. History.

a. We have to write and teach our true history; history books must be rewritten from our perspective.

b. We should include in our education those aspects of the past that are still preserved by cultural communities. The culture and traditions of these minorities should be protected and given importance.

c. We can start instilling national pride by nurturing community pride first. This can be done by setting up community museums where materials reflecting of local history are displayed: old folk re-telling our town or community history in public gatherings; reviving local cultural groups; tracing family trees; having family reunions, etc.

3. Languages. We ought to use Filipino in our cultural and intellectual life. Some of our universities and other institutions have started doing this; the practice should be continued and expanded.

4. Education.

a. We must push for the Filipinization of the entire educational system.

b. We must have value formation in the school curriculum and teach pride in being a Filipino.

c. Literature should be used to instill national pride.

5. Trade and Industry. We should support the "Buy Filipino" movement by:

a. Identifying and making known the centers of product excellence in the Philippines; and dispersing economic activities based on local product expertise and indigenous materials (i.e., industries should be developed in the respective regions where the required skills and resources already abound).

b. Having a big brother-small brother relationship between companies, where big companies could help related companies improve the quality of their products. The government could also act as a big brother helping these small companies improve the quality of their output.

c. Having an "order-regalo" or "order-pasalubong" (gift) project which targets Filipinos abroad. This could be initiated by both the government and businessmen.

d. Promoting a "Sariling Atin" day when everybody would wear and use Filipino clothes and products only.

6. Media/Advertising.

a. We can coordinate with KBP, PANA and other media agencies in such projects as the following:

- Giving awards or other incentives to advertisements that promote national pride and patriotism. Conversely, giving "kalabasa" awards or denying incentives to advertisements that promote colonial mentality.

- Prohibiting the use of foreign models in advertisements.

b. We can organize contests (i.e., oratorical, story, drama, essay, etc.) about love for country, and about what Filipinos like about their country or their countrymen. These stories, dramas, essays, and the like can then be made into teaching materials for our schools.

c. We need to use media programs (such as comics and programs in the various dialects) that will reach with the masa or great majority of people. For instance, R. Constantino's, "How to Decolonize the Filipino Mind", could be written in comics form in the various dialects.

7. Government.

a. The leadership in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government should be models of positive Filipino traits.

b. In order to promote national unity and national integration, the government must attempt a long-range strategy for democratic transformation in Philippine politics.

c. The government must continue and even increase its present efforts to have a more independent economic strategy: it must diversify its sources of assistance and not merely rely on the U.S. or on any other foreign nation.

B. Developing a Sense of the Common Good:

1. Government.

a. The government needs to decentralize its power and give more voice and greater participation to people at the grassroots.

b. Government must widen democratic space, establish political pluralism, and protect and support the forces working for change (e.g., change agents from cause-oriented groups, non-governmental organizations and people's organizations) instead of repressing them.

c. The government should bring basic services to the depressed areas in a participatory manner, giving the local people a more active role in administering and enhancing such services.

2. Non-governmental organizations.

a. The role of our cause-oriented groups or non-governmental organizations should be both crusading or consciousness-raising and problem solving. Our community groups or people's organizations can conduct their own projects with the support of non-governmental organizations, religious groups and the government, and empower themselves in the process.

b. Our social institutions need to be mobilized towards a common purpose and shared priorities with the government and the Philippine society as a whole.

c. Our community groups, people's organizations and non-governmental organizations could promote public forums and discussions wherein pressing national concerns like land reform, graft and corruption, unemployment, etc., can be discussed. The government should participate in these fora and religious should be encouraged to do the same.

d. We can form small study groups in our schools, work places or communities. Through these groups, we can study the various ways by which we can initiate change in our

spheres of influence and encourage each other to become role models for our family, peers, and community.

3. Religious Organizations/Movements.

a. Religious family movements, like Marriage Encounter or the Christian Family Movement, can be encouraged to reach out to the poor who are the least prepared for family life. Programs for the poor should be coordinated with the government and religious institutions.

b. The charismatic, cursillo, and born-again movements should be encouraged to concretize spiritual doctrines by reaching out to the poor and contributing to nation-building.

4. Education.

a. Communization of our schools should be developed to give a common experience to students and to foster greater equality in society.

b. Social orientation courses in our schools should be not only for socialization activities, but also for socially-oriented and socially-relevant activities.

C. For Developing Integrity and Accountability:

1. Government Leadership Structure/Systems

a. Our top government officials should serve as models for other workers in the lower echelons of the bureaucracy.

b. Since our leaders are too insulated from what is actually happening at the bottom, they need to be exposed to the realities of social life.

c. The government needs to implement comprehensive, concrete and operational measures to minimize graft and corruption. These measures must be given teeth by establishing groups or institutions vested with police power.

d. There is a need for a more efficient bureaucracy, with a minimum of red tape. The government should systematize information dissemination. For instance, the public should be informed how a government agency administers its services. This and other similar strategies could minimize "fixers" and lessen graft and corruption.

e. A system of reinforcing desirable behavior must be formulated by the government bureaucracy. For example, honest policemen and industrious Metro Aides can be given appropriate recognition, awards, or other incentives.

2. Education/Training.

a. The career executive program given to government officials should be extended, that is, a similar program should be drawn up for all government employees. The program can be a training package called "Public Service".

b. Our government employees should be given value clarification seminars.

D. For Developing Discipline and Hard Work

1. In both government and private institutions, we need to:

a. provide positive controls; keep performance records; and maintain reward and recognition systems; and

b. get rid of useless, meaningless rules.

2. We ought to reward excellence in whatever Filipinos do by:

a. identifying and making known centers of excellence in the Philippines;

b. looking for, documenting and publicizing success or excellence stories (e.g., local entrepreneurs who have succeeded) using various media;

c. recognizing and encouraging advertisements that convey the value of excellence and depict positive Filipino values; and

d. using media (such as comics, radio programs in the various dialects), that will communicate to the masa in order to depict positive Filipino values, and giving awards to radio, TV programs, and movies that convey these values.

E. For Developing Self-reflection and Analysis

1. Religion/Religious Movements. The teaching of religion or catechism should be concrete, integrated to daily life, and socially relevant. Our religious movements should not only engage in "spiritual" activities but should specifically reach out to the poor and needy.

2. Small Groups/NGO's.

a. We can start a movement of small groups (e.g., community groups, work groups, and parish groups) where people can begin to reflect on their situation and that of the country.

b. Some big companies are already inculcating the habit of observation-action-reflection through training programs that use experiential methods. These efforts should be expanded. Specifically, the training programs could be re-designed for use in other contexts, such as in the small groups mentioned in the preceding paragraph.

3. Government Leadership.

a. We should encourage "conversion" at the top level, as manifested in public "repentance" or confession.

b. The Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) and private learning institutions should inculcate the value and habit of self-reflection starting from childhood. Educational methods should not focus on rote learning, but should emphasize reflection and analysis.

c. We can conduct a "national reflection weekend" for officials and employees in all levels and branches of the government. During this weekend, government personnel can repeat the process (see Appendix B) of the Moral Recovery project, that is, reflect on Filipino traits, then contemplate goals for strengthening the positive traits and changing the negative traits; or a commission or similar unit can go to regional and provincial levels to help the regional and provincial government officials and employees in their reflection.

d. We can strengthen the research arms of government agencies by linking them with universities and non-governmental organizations.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In conclusion, it is recommended that once this report is submitted to the Senate and becomes a Senate Report, the project should be allowed to develop on its own, independent of, but in collaboration with, the legislature. It is envisioned that training modules could be developed that would enable a critical mass of people to reflect on our strengths and weaknesses as a people. It is important that these modules not simply communicate the findings of the project, but, more importantly, should attempt to replicate the process of communal reflection that was an essential ingredient of the project methodology.

The project was a powerful experience for the members of the task force. Along with the project findings we wish to share this experience as well, so that together we may understand ourselves, and together we may make an act of the will to become a better people.

Ateneo de Manila University

http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-7/chapter_ix.htm

CHAPTER IX

CULTURAL RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTSDOREEN G. FERNANDEZ

Human rights are more than legal concepts: they are the essence of man. They are what makes man human. That is why they are called human rights: deny them and you deny man's humanity.

Tote W. Diokno

CULTURAL RIGHTS AS HUMAN RIGHTS

Human rights have been defined and enumerated in five international documents and three national documents. The international documents are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United Nations adopted on December 10, 1948; its two implementing covenants: The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which took effect in 1976; the Declaration and Action Programme on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order; and the Economic Rights and Duties of States, both of which the United Nations adopted in 1974.

The three national documents are the Malolos Constitution of 1898, the Philippine Constitution of 1935, and the Philippine Constitution of 1986. The late Senator Jose W. Diokno, the greatest defender and spokesman of human rights in the Philippines, has pointed out that the 1973 Constitution "has no place on the list," not only because of its doubtful parentage, but also because of its provisions inimical to human rights.(9)

The above seven documents enumerate more than twenty human rights. Senator Diokno explains "the basics" thus:

First. None of us asked to be born. And regardless of who our parents are and what they own, all of us are born equally naked and helpless, yet each with his own mind, his own will and his own talents. Because of these facts, all of us have an equal right to life, and share the same inherent human dignity. The right to life is more than the right to live: it is the right to live in a manner that befits our common human dignity and enables us to bring our particular talents to full flower. So each of us individually has three basic rights: the right to life, the right to dignity, and the right to develop ourselves. These are traditionally known as the rights of man.

Second: Even if we may not know who our parents are, we are never born without parents, and never live outside society, a society with its own peculiar culture, history and resources. So besides our rights as persons, we have rights as society, rights which belong to each of us individually but which we can exercise only collectively as a people. These rights are known as the rights of the people They are analogous to the rights of man, and like the latter, comprise three basic rights: to survive, to self-determination, and to develop as a people.

Third: Once a society reaches a certain degree of complexity, as almost all societies have, society can act through government. But government always remains only an agent of society; it never becomes society itself; it never becomes the people themselves. It is always and only an instrument of the people. . . .

All the rights of man and all the rights of the people come from those three basic principles.(10)

Cultural rights are inalienably part of human rights, but have not been high in the consciousness of our people, because of the more visible and dramatic transgressions of human rights that have scarred our recent history, like salvaging, unemployment, low wages, exploitation, and the suppression of dissent.

What then are cultural rights? Beneath the basic rights of man--the right to life the right to dignity, and the right to develop ourselves--lie our rights to our own culture.

The right to life is not only the right to be alive, but to live as one wishes, as one sees fit in order to bring his talents to full flower, as one was shaped by his culture. It is the right to live as an Ifugao, a Maranao, a Pampango, in the way these cultures consider it good to live.

The right to dignity is the right to the regard of one's fellow man, and therefore of one's cultural community. It is the right to live and work, to survive and produce, as a Bilaan farmer, as a Badjao fisherman, as an Ilongo weaver--rewarded with just wages and with the support and regard of his peers.

The right to develop ourselves assumes a development of what we are, of what our culture made us, within the context of our families, towns, and nation. It is the right to learn and grow as an Ilocano student, a Tausug doctor, a Bontoc social worker, each developing the particular cultural traits and gifts that make him Ilocano or Tausug or Bontoc and Filipino.

Cultural rights are thus inalienably part of the rights of man. They are also, therefore, part of the rights of a people to survival, to self-determination, and to development, because a people consists of humans brought together as members of a society, formed by a particular culture and history.

Before this nation came to be called the Philippines, it was composed of ethnic groups or tribes scattered throughout the islands--each a community or small society, each with a particular culture and cultural expressions. Thus when Pigafetta recounted how he and Magellan's cohort were greeted by a King with food, gifts, and ceremonies, he was speaking of a particular indigenous people with those customs and cultural traditions. And later, when the Spanish friars and civil authorities reported back to Spain on their dealings with Zambals, or Joloans, or Sugbuanons, they acknowledged that they were dealing with peoples whose customs showed them to differ from each other.

When, after 400 years, Spanish culture--and later, after 40 years of a new colonization, American culture--had been adapted into the native culture and thus indigenized, a certain uniformity or similarity could be discerned among the cultures of the conquered peoples--specifically the lowlanders, like the Tagalogs, Ilocanos, Pampangos, Ilongos, Cebuanos, Warays, etc. The peoples who remained unconquered, however--and the Spanish annals are filled with accounts of battles with the Moros, and encounters with headhunters--did not absorb this culture. Thus, when we speak of a Philippine folk culture as visible in such cultural expressions as the theater form called komedya, the dance called cariñosa, the house called bahay na bato, we are speaking only of the culture of Christianized Filipinos, and not of the culture of the Cordillera, or of most of Mindanao.

Eventually, history forged from this collection of ethnic groupings a political entity called the Philippines. As a result of the ways of the Spanish colonial government, later the American insular government, and still later the Philippine national government, the culture of the majority was taken as the basis for national policy and legislation, and the culture of the others--the so called cultural minorities, or tribal Filipinos-- was neglected. These cultures were not considered in the making of laws; these peoples were not usually given a voice in government; their needs were not often taken as part of the national concern.

MINORITY CULTURAL RIGHTS

Yet these peoples belong to the nation that we call the Philippines. Calling them "cultural minorities" shows that they are considered as not belonging to the predominant culture, and explains why their cultural rights have been often forgotten and trampled upon.

Let us examine some examples of violations of cultural rights. In the 70s, a government study determined that, in order to irrigate the entire Cagayan Valley area, and to develop 70,000 kilowatts of electric power, four dams should be built in the Chico and Pasiw Rivers in Kalinga and in Bontoc Province. One dam was to be built at Bontoc, to be called Chico I. Chico II was to be built at Sadanga, Bontoc; Chico III at Basao, Kalinga; and the largest, Chico IV, at Lubuangan, Kalinga.(11) From the economic point of view of human rights, they would enhance the capability of the residents of the Cagayan Valley to "develop as a people."

To build the four dams, however, would mean displacing 5000 Bontoc and Kalinga families: uprooting them from their homes, evicting them from what had been their homes for generations, and banishing them to the lowlands where they had never lived, where their work ways would not be effective, and where their mountain cultures would have no place. It would also mean destroying 1500 rice terraces that these people had built with much wisdom, community labor and, yes, pain.

The destruction of homes and rice fields, the transfer of workers and their families to unfamiliar workplaces would have been cruel physical displacement. But even more cruel would have been the cultural displacement. Building the Chico dams would have been, in effect, violating the rights of a people to self-determination within their culture. The act would have indicated that the government was acting for the economic rights of the people of the Cagayan River Valley and against the cultural (and economic) rights of the Bontoc and Kalinga people. It would have indicated that no importance was given to their burial grounds, or their reverence for their ancestors, or the trees and forests they believed were inhabited by their deities and spirits, or the history of therace written in the rice terraces, the houses, the communities.

The Chico dams would not have killed the affected Bontocs and Kalingas--they were left the right to stay alive somewhere else--but it would have killed their cultural context, and thus denied them their right to live as they wished, in dignity and development of their own determination and design.

These people, to whom no one needed to explain the articles of human rights, or the subtleties of cultural rights, were determined to fight to the death rather than give up their land. They gathered together, they organized and made peace pacts (bodong). Even their women fought back, and drove out the National Power Corporation team that had come to survey and drill. How?

The women removed their tapis (a kind of skirt) knowing that the lowland men would not touch them in public nor even look at them if they were naked. It is a cultural taboo. They advanced on as the engineers fled in sheer embarrassment. A helicopter had to be flown to pick up their abandoned equipment.(12)

It was a cultural weapon, which of course would not have prevailed upon the modern weapons of the army or the power of the government. Deaths resulted, like that of Macli-ing Dulag, but eventually the people, aided by friends of tribal Filipinos, prevailed, and the dams were not built.

The story of the Chico River dams may be called a success story, albeit one paid for with blood and pain. It is a rare one in the annals of tribal Filipinos, which is filled with violations of cultural rights, and thus of human rights--violations that have not usually found their way to the newspapers, or official government lists, or even to Amnesty International, because of a lack of recognition that cultural rights are human rights.

The building of the Kawasaki Sintering Plant in Cagayan de Oro sent workers of the area to mountain regions where the skills of their fishing culture were unusable. In the days when sugar was at a premium on the world market, ranches in Bukidnon were converted overnight into cane fields. Some of the ranches were formerly occupied by Manobo tribesman, who claimed them as ancestral domain, encouraged by Presidential Decree 410. They were told, however, that the decree was in abeyance. Did that mean that their rights to the land of their forefathers, and their rights to use the land as their culture determined, were in abeyance? The Manobos could not understand this, says Bishop Francisco Claver:

The Manobo do not understand in the same way that the Bontoc and the Kalinga do not understand, and some have already been killed because they cannot understand. But they are the Little People, the Manobo, the Bontoc, the Kalinga. They are expendable, their lack of understanding does not matter because the President [Marcus] knows best. Something is wrong somewhere, very wrong, and the rest of the country is silent.(13)

VIOLATIONS OF MINORITY CULTURAL RIGHTS

The minorities have, through our history, been deprived of ancestral lands by other Filipinos, by multinational corporations, and by the government itself. Obviously, this is a gross violation of cultural, property, and economic rights. Other violations, perhaps less well known or less obvious would include: exhibiting tribal Filipinos at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904, as "primitive," "savage" people, not only degrading their human dignity, but treating them as subhuman and causing them to become ill.

Another instance was "turning the `discovery' of the Tasaday into an international media event' to boost the chances of Manuel Elizalde, Jr. for the 1971 senatorial elections."(14) More recently, the Tasaday have been involved in an investigation of their authenticity, which is obviously relative to accusations against Elizalde, and has resulted in killings among them. Although the investigation has obvious but unspoken political ends, the victims are the Tasaday, their dignity, their personhood--and quite probably the lands set aside for them in increasingly crowded South Cotabato.

Even the many komedyas or moro-moros written in the Philippines from the lath century to the 20th, although seemingly dealing only with love and war, are unfair to the Filipino Muslims, and transgress their right to a fair reading of their culture. Generally, they are portrayed as boastful and ferocious, worthy of victory in battle or of marrying Christian princes or princesses only if converted to Christianity. The pejorative use of the word "Moron" to signify someone irreligious, juramentado, etc., is part of this cultural violation.

Cultural discrimination too is the imposition of political, educational, health, and other social systems or regulations on the Agta, the Mangyan, the Higaonon, the T'boli, the Muslim without consulting them or their culture.

Cultural violations as well are: discrimination against tribal Filipinos in legislation, government appointments, educational and health benefits; their displacement due to infrastructure projects; the degradation of their resource base (e.g., the cutting down, for logging, of the forests in which they live and find livelihood); the commercialization of their cultural artifacts (e.g., the ridiculous and obscene carvings that entrepreneurs make native carvers produce for the Baguio tourist trade); and the desecration of their rites and belief systems (the Grand Canao Festival in Baguio, the proliferation of mock Ati-Atihan for tourist festivals and political campaigns, the corruption of the Moriones of Marinduque), etc.

Do we, along with government agencies and commercial enterprises, realize that these victims too are Filipinos?

There are 107 ethnic groups in the Philippines, the biggest of which are the Cebuano, Tagalog, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Bicol, Waray, Pampango and Pangasinan peoples. They represent some 85 percent of the total population. The remaining 15 percent constitute the ethnic minorities, who, however, represent about 80 percent of the total number of ethnic groups in the country. The number of Muslims was estimated in 1981 to be between 3 and 5 million.(15)

The tribal Filipinos include groups most Filipinos have never heard or thought of, or considered as being fellow Filipinos: Mandaya, Mansaka, Dibabawon, Manguangan, Higaunon, Tagakaolo, Kalagan, Manobo, Remontado, Dumagat, Agta, Baluga, etc. Their problems are Filipino problems. Like the rest of us, they need social services, opportunities to develop, jobs and wages in order to survive, venues in which to express their arts, integration into the nation and its aspirations. The cultural majority and minority equally have a right to the protection of their cultures, but the minority have an underlying problem: how to preserve their own cultures while becoming one with the other, more dominant cultures; how, in effect, to make their contribution to the national culture.

The Philippine national culture has been defined by critic and literary historian Bienvenido Lumbera as "the dynamic aggregate of ideas, traditions and institutions embodying the values and aspirations of the people as these have been concretized by their struggle against colonial rule and neocolonial control."(16) Anthropologist and Constitutional Commissioner Ponciano Bennagen calls it "that which has been emerging from the crucible of the Filipino peoples' collective interaction and struggles against other national cultures." It is still emerging, since the Filipino people are still engaged in the struggle to free themselves from current foreign and new forces of national domination. It is still emerging as well from the different ethnic identities and cultures, because, as Bennagen explains:

An aspect of this struggle is the wreaking down of ethnolinguistic boundaries as the diverse groups find common cause in defending their sovereignty. The emergence of a national culture then constitutes a redefinition of cultural identities beyond, but still including, the ethnic identities. Put another way, in the collective struggles against other

national forces of domination, we are becoming . . . both Bontoc and Filipino, both Higaunon and Filipino, both Maranao and Filipino, both Ilocano and Filipino, both Tausug and Filipino . . . (17)

A national culture, therefore, does not mean cultural conformity. The Philippine national culture is built of all cultures that are Filipino. All these cultures have a right to survive and prevail, and thus make their individual contributions to the national identity and dream. The rights of these cultures, minority and majority, to survival, to self-determination, and to development, are rights that the Constitution assumes, guarantees, and protects when it declares that Congress "shall give the highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good" (Article XIII, I section 1).